UEFA Europa League 2011-12
Atlético Madrid | count = 2 | second_other = Athletic Bilbao | matches = 205 | goals = 585 | attendance = | top_scorer = Radamel Falcao (12 goals) | player = | updated = | prevseason = 2010-11 | nextseason = 2012-13 }} The 2011–12 UEFA Europa League was the third season of the UEFA Europa League, Europe's secondary club football tournament organised by UEFA, and the 41st edition overall including its predecessor, the UEFA Cup. It began on 30 June 2011 with the first legs of the first qualifying round, and ended on 9 May 2012 with the final held at Arena Națională in Bucharest, Romania. As part of a trial that started in the 2009–10 UEFA Europa League, two extra officials – one on each goal line – were used in all matches of the competition from the group stage. Atlético Madrid won the title, defeating Athletic Bilbao 3–0 in an all-Spanish final. Porto were the defending champions, but they were beaten by Manchester City in the Round of 32. Association team allocation A total of 194 teams from 53 UEFA associations are participating in the 2011–12 UEFA Europa League. Associations are allocated places according to their 2010 UEFA league coefficient, which takes into account their performance in European competitions from 2005–06 to 2009–10. Below is the qualification scheme for the 2011–12 UEFA Europa League: *Associations 1–6 each have three teams qualify *Associations 7–9 each have four teams qualify *Associations 10–51 each have three teams qualify, except Liechtenstein (one team) *Associations 52–53 each have two teams qualify *The top three associations of the 2010–11 UEFA Fair Play ranking each gain an additional berth *Moreover, 33 teams eliminated from the 2011–12 UEFA Champions League are transferred to the Europa League The title holder would have been given an additional entry if they did not qualify for the 2011–12 UEFA Champions League or Europa League through domestic performance; however, this additional entry will not be necessary as Porto, winners of the 2010–11 UEFA Europa League, qualified for the Champions League through domestic performance. Association ranking | | |} ;Notes *(FP): Additional fair play berth (Norway, England, Sweden) *(UCL): Additional teams transferred from the UEFA Champions League Distribution The winners of the 2010–11 UEFA Europa League, Porto, would have been guaranteed a place in the group stage; however, as they qualified for the 2011–12 UEFA Champions League, this title holder spot reserved for them was vacated. As a result, the following changes to the default allocation system were made to compensate for the vacant title holder spot in the group stage: *The domestic cup winners of associations 16 and 17 (Scotland and Bulgaria) are moved from the third qualifying round to the play-off round. *The domestic cup winners of associations 28 and 29 (Belarus and Republic of Ireland) are promoted from the second qualifying round to the third qualifying round. *The domestic cup winners of associations 52 and 53 (Malta and San Marino) and the domestic league runners-up of associations 33 and 34 (Latvia and Moldova) are promoted from the first qualifying round to the second qualifying round. Redistribution rules A Europa League place is vacated when a team qualifies for both the Champions League and the Europa League, or qualifies for the Europa League by more than one method. When a place is vacated, it is redistributed within the national association by the following rules: * When the domestic cup winners (considered as the "highest-placed" qualifiers within the national association) also qualify for the Champions League, their Europa League place is vacated, and the remaining Europa League qualifiers are moved up one place, with the final place (with the earliest starting round) taken by the domestic cup runners-up, provided they do not already qualify for the Champions League or the Europa League. Otherwise, this place is taken by the highest-placed league finishers that have not yet qualified for the Europa League. * When the domestic cup winners also qualify for the Europa League through league position, their place through the league position is vacated, and the Europa League qualifiers that finish lower in the league are moved up one place, with the final place taken by the highest-placed league finishers that have not yet qualified for the Europa League. * A place vacated by the League Cup winners is taken by the highest-placed league finishers that have not yet qualified for the Europa League. * A Fair Play place is taken by the highest-ranked team in the domestic Fair Play table that has not yet qualified for the Champions League or the Europa League. Teams The labels in the parentheses show how each team qualified for the place of its starting round: * TH: Title holders * CW: Cup winners * CR: Cup runners-up * LC: League Cup winners * Nth: League position * P-: End-of-season European competition play-offs (winners or position) * FP: Fair play * UCL: Relegated from the Champions League ** GS: Third-placed teams from the group stage ** PO: Losers from the play-off round ** Q3: Losers from the third qualifying round Round and draw dates All draws held at UEFA headquarters in Nyon, Switzerland unless stated otherwise. Matches in the qualifying, play-off, and knockout rounds may also be played on Tuesdays or Wednesdays instead of the regular Thursdays due to scheduling conflicts. Qualifying rounds In the qualifying rounds and the play-off round, teams were be divided into seeded and unseeded teams based on their 2011 UEFA club coefficients, and then drawn into two-legged home-and-away ties. Teams from the same association cannot be drawn against each other. First qualifying round The draw for the first and second qualifying rounds was held on 20 June 2011. The first legs were played on 30 June, and the second legs were played on 7 July 2011. |} Second qualifying round The first legs were played on 14 July, and the second legs were played on 21 July 2011. |} Third qualifying round The draw for the third qualifying round was held on 15 July 2011. The first legs were played on 26 and 28 July, and the second legs were played on 4 August 2011. |} Play-off round The draw for the play-off round was held on 5 August 2011. The first legs were played on 18 August, and the second legs were played on 25 August 2011. |} ;Notes *Order of legs reversed after original draw. *Greek club Olympiakos Volou, who had reached the play-off round, were excluded from the competition by UEFA on 11 August 2011 for their involvement in the Koriopolis match-fixing scandal. UEFA decided to replace them in the play-off round with Differdange 03 from Luxembourg, who had lost to Olympiakos Volou in the previous round. *As a result of match-fixing allegations, Turkish club Fenerbahçe were removed from the 2011–12 UEFA Champions League and were replaced with Trabzonspor on 24 August 2011. As a result, Trabzonspor's second leg against Athletic Bilbao was cancelled, and Athletic Bilbao qualified for the group stage. *Celtic lodged protests over the eligibility of a number of the Sion players who participated in the two legs of the play-off round, which Sion won 3–1 aggregate (first leg: 0–0; second leg: 3–1). The UEFA Control and Disciplinary Body accepted the protests and decided to award both matches to Celtic by forfeit (3–0). As a consequence, Celtic qualified for the UEFA Europa League group stage. Group stage The group stage features 48 teams, which were allocated into pots based on their 2011 UEFA club coefficients, and then drawn into twelve groups of four. Teams from the same association cannot be drawn against each other. The draw was held on 26 August 2011 in Monaco. In each group, teams play against each other home-and-away in a round-robin format. The matchdays are 15 September, 29 September, 20 October, 3 November, 30 November–1 December, and 14–15 December 2011. The group winners and runners-up will advance to the round of 32, where they will be joined by the 8 third-placed teams from the group stage of the 2011–12 UEFA Champions League. If two or more teams are equal on points on completion of the group matches, the following criteria are applied to determine the rankings (in descending order): #higher number of points obtained in the group matches played among the teams in question; #superior goal difference from the group matches played among the teams in question; #higher number of goals scored in the group matches played among the teams in question; #higher number of goals scored away from home in the group matches played among the teams in question; #If, after applying criteria 1) to 4) to several teams, two teams still have an equal ranking, the criteria 1) to 4) will be reapplied to determine the ranking of these teams; #superior goal difference from all group matches played; #higher number of goals scored from all group matches played; #higher number of coefficient points accumulated by the club in question, as well as its association, over the previous five seasons. A total of 24 national associations are represented in this group stage (including Scotland after Celtic were reinstated into the Europa League over Sion), with England having the most teams, with four. Group A |valign="top"| |} Group B |valign="top"| |} Group C |valign="top"| |} Group D |valign="top"| |} Group E |valign="top"| |} Group F |valign="top"| |} Group G |valign="top"| |} Group H |valign="top"| |} Group I |valign="top"| |} Group J |valign="top"| |} Group K |valign="top"| |} Group L |valign="top"| |} Knockout phase In the knockout phase, teams play against each other over two legs on a home-and-away basis, except for the one-match final. The draw for the round of 32 and round of 16 will be held on 16 December 2011. The draws for the quarter-finals, semi-finals and final (to determine the "home" team) will be held on 16 March 2012. In the draw for the round of 32, the twelve group winners and the four better third-placed teams from the Champions League group stage (based on their match record in the group stage) are seeded, and the twelve group runners-up and the other four third-placed teams from the Champions League group stage are unseeded. A seeded team will be drawn against an unseeded team, with the seeded team hosting the second leg. Teams from the same group or the same association cannot be drawn against each other. In the draws for the round of 16 onwards, there are no seedings, and teams from the same group or the same association may be drawn with each other. ;Qualified teams Round of 32 The first legs were played on 14 and 16 February, and the second legs were played on 22 and 23 February 2012. |} Round of 16 The first legs were be played on 8 March, and the second legs will be played on 15 March 2012. |- |- |- |- |- |- |- |} Quarter-finals The first legs were be played on 29 March, and the second legs will be played on 5 April 2012. |- |- |- |} Semi-finals The first legs were played on 19 April, and the second legs were played on 26 April 2012. |- |} Final |score= 3–0 |report=Report |team2= Athletic Bilbao |goals1= Falcao Diego |goals2= |stadium=Arena Națională, Bucharest |attendance=52,347 |referee=Wolfgang Stark (Germany)}} Statistics Top goalscorers Top assists See also *2011–12 UEFA Champions League *2012 UEFA Super Cup External links *UEFA Europa League (official website) Category:2011–12 UEFA Europa League Category:2011 in association football Category:2012 in association football 2011-12